Saint Martin’s Harvie Social Justice Lecture will highlight
county’s juvenile justice program
April 7, 2011
LACEY, WASHINGTON — Court Commissioner Christine Schaller of
Thurston County Superior Court will speak on the issue of
juvenile justice Friday, April 15, as part of the Saint Martin’s
University Robert A. Harvie Social Justice Lecture Series.
Commissioner Schaller’s lecture will take place at 4 p.m. in
Harned Hall, Room 110, on the University’s Lacey campus. All
Harvie Lecture Series events are free, and the public is welcome
to attend.
Schaller handles cases involving juvenile offenders, at-risk
youth, truancy and the county’s Juvenile Drug Court, among
others. Thurston County was the first county in Washington state
to unify all family and juvenile operations in a single
facility, separate from other Superior Court operations. In her
lecture, Commissioner Schaller will explain how the county’s
Juvenile Drug Court works, as well as other juvenile justice
issues. She also plans to discuss the impact of budget cuts on
the juvenile justice system.
Schaller has been a court commissioner with Thurston County
Superior Court since February 2005. Aside from juvenile cases,
she also handles state child support enforcement and paternity
matters with the Court. She conducts settlement conferences for
divorce, child custody, paternity and child support matters, as
well as juvenile offender trials. From February 2005 to February
2009, she handled pretrial matters in Family Treatment Court for
child custody, parenting plan modifications, relocations and
child support, domestic violence, unlawful harassment,
vulnerable adult and sexual assault protection orders.
Previously, Schaller was a family law and criminal defense
attorney for the Olympia law firm of Foster, Foster & Schaller,
LLC.
A graduate of the Gonzaga University School of Law in
Spokane, Washington, Schaller was honored as a Jurist of the
Year in 2009 by the Washington State Bar Association Family Law
Section. She is a 1993 graduate of Saint Martin’s, holding a
Bachelor of Arts in history and political science. While at
Saint Martin’s, Schaller was a member of the Society of Fellows,
served as student body secretary for two years and graduated
magna cum laude.
The Robert A. Harvie Social Justice Lecture Series was
created by Robert Hauhart, Ph.D., J.D., associate professor of
criminal justice at Saint Martin’s University, to raise
awareness of social justice issues within the community and to
honor the work of Robert A. Harvie, J.D., former professor and
chairman of the University’s department of criminal justice.
Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year,
Catholic, coeducational university located on a 380-acre wooded
campus in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic
Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 18 Benedictine
colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and
the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s
University prepares students for successful lives through its 21
majors and six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts,
business, education and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes
1,250 students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its
main campus, and 650 more to its extension campuses located at
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Everett College, Centralia College and
Tacoma Community College. Visit the Saint Martin’s University
website at www.stmartin.edu.
For more information:
Laura Hoff
College of Arts and Sciences
360-438-4564
lhoff@stmartin.edu
Jennifer Fellinger
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4332
jfellinger@stmartin.edu
www.stmartin.edu